JP2008154576A - Method and apparatus for preparing rice flour - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus for preparing rice flour, which are capable of providing rice flour having a wide potential application range in the future at a low cost by freely controlling the degree of gelatinization regardless of the kind of a rice raw material, and an apparatus therefor despite of a simple processing constitution and an easy process control. <P>SOLUTION: The preparation method of the rice flour includes a washing step 1B of washing rice, a water-absorption step 1C of soaking the washed rice in water at ordinary temperature for 20-120 min and subsequently draining the rice, a steaming step 1D of steaming the water-absorbed rice with saturated steam for a prescribed time to induce gelatinization of at least a portion of rice starch, a cooling step 1G of subjecting the steamed rice to rapid vacuum cooling until it reaches ordinary temperature, a maturation step 1H of maturing the gelatinized rice starch by leaving the steamed rice in a sterile condition for 24-48 hr, a drying step 1E of drying the matured rice by spraying superheated steam at 100-350°C under an ordinary pressure onto the matured rice flattened through a flattening step, and a powdering step 1F of grinding the dried rice into a powder. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing rice flour having excellent processing characteristics that can be used in Japanese and Western confectionery, breads, noodles, and the like.

  The methods for making rice flour can be broadly classified as follows: 1. A method of pulverizing raw rice, that is, rice in which the rice starch is in a beta-type state to obtain rice flour; There is a method in which raw rice is heat treated to pulverize rice in a state where at least a part of the rice starch is changed from a beta type to an alpha type to obtain rice flour. Of these two methods, This method has been limited to Japanese sweets such as dumplings and rice cakes, but recently it has become possible to make fine powder and attempts are being made to make rice flour bread. On the other hand, 2. This method has been used exclusively for traditional Japanese confectionery since ancient times because it takes time and cost to manufacture. However, since the rice flour obtained by this method uses rice starch in the alpha form, when considering development including future technological developments: Compared with the beta-type rice flour by this method, the range of use is more likely to expand, and the possibility of leading to increased consumption of rice becomes extremely high. Speaking of this rice consumption, first of all, the consumption of rice per person continues to decrease due to the diversification of Japanese diet, and furthermore, the population itself decreases due to the aging of the babies, Coming to a situation that shakes the foundations of agriculture itself, expanding rice consumption is a promising proposition. On the other hand, due to Uruguay's relations, it is obliged to import foreign rice (mainly Indica Thai rice), and 100,000 tons are imported every year, and this foreign rice must be consumed. Therefore, it is assumed that the range of utilization of rice flour will be wide in the future. It is necessary to pay attention to alpha rice flour.

  This alpha rice flour has been used since ancient times in the form of ume powder, Domyoji powder, vine flour, Kaminan flour, and infant flour.These methods are used to clean raw rice such as sticky rice and glutinous rice, soak it in water and drain it. After that, heat treatment such as steaming is performed to change the rice starch from the beta type to the alpha type, and then the rice starch is sprinkled and dried, and further pulverized into a powder. In contrast to the traditional method for producing pregelatinized rice flour as described above, the following are known as the latest industrial methods for producing pregelatinized rice flour.

  JP 2002-45130 A   JP 2004-47 A   JP 2005-287365 A   JP 2006-174756 A

  In the method for producing alpha-rice rice flour of Patent Document 1, raw rice is directly subjected to wet heat treatment under a certain condition, that is, alpha-treated, and the wet-heat treated raw rice is dried. It is pulverized to obtain rice flour. This wet heat treatment is performed in an autoclave at 90 ° C. or higher and lower than 120 ° C. for 50 minutes to 90 minutes.

  The method for producing the pregelatinized rice flour of Patent Document 2 is that the raw rice is immersed in water at 15 ° C. to 30 ° C. for about 15 to 20 hours to absorb water, and then heated and sterilized by steam, microwave or boiling, It is further dried, and the dried raw rice is pulverized to obtain rice flour. When pulverizing the dried raw rice, the rice flour is selectively separated by a grinding-type milling machine, for example, divided into the surface portion and inner core portion of the raw rice, or divided into powder or granules. is there.

  The manufacturing method of the pregelatinized rice flour of Patent Document 3 is that the raw rice is washed and soaked to absorb moisture to 30% to 35%, then pulverized into powder, and the temperature of the flour is adjusted and dried with hot air At the same time, it classifies and obtains the desired rice flour in one apparatus. And, if the temperature for hot air drying is set to a temperature at which the rice starch is alpha, the alpha starch is obtained, and if the temperature is below the alpha, the rice starch can be obtained in the beta form. It is.

  In the method for producing pre-alpha rice powder of Patent Document 4, the raw material rice is allowed to reach the temperature of 120 ° C. to 150 ° C. within 1 to 5 minutes under normal pressure after washing or dipping and absorbing water. Rapid heating with high-temperature hot-air air causes the raw rice to expand easily, and the expanded raw rice is pulverized to obtain rice flour.

  The method for producing pregelatinized rice flour of Patent Document 1 is that when the raw rice is subjected to wet heat treatment in an autoclave described in the specification, and finally obtained rice flour is measured by an X-ray diffraction apparatus. The relative X-ray diffraction relative intensities obtained are at least two of 0.012-0.023, 0.030-0.070, 0.030-0.060 under the respective conditions. Since the heat treatment is configured as applicable, the structure of the heat treatment is complicated and is not suitable for industrial production. Further, if the wet heat treatment is simply performed at 90 ° C. or more and less than 120 ° C. for 50 minutes to 90 minutes by an autoclave, the apparatus configuration is expensive. Furthermore, in the case where the wet heat treatment is performed for 6 hours to 48 hours with warm water of 45 ° C. or more and less than 60 ° C., if the hygienic management of the warm water is not performed to a high degree, it becomes a hotbed of various bacteria and lacks practical utility.

  In the method for producing pregelatinized rice flour of Patent Document 2, the raw rice is soaked in water at 15 ° C. to 30 ° C. for about 15 to 20 hours to absorb water, and then heated and sterilized to alphalize the rice starch. Therefore, as described in the specification, in order not to become a hotbed of various bacteria at the time of immersion, water must be changed once or twice, the water change work is troublesome, and the immersion time is long. There are disadvantages such as the need for a super large immersion tank.

  In the method for producing pregelatinized rice flour of Patent Document 3, the raw rice is soaked to have a moisture value of 30% to 35%, and then pulverized, dried and classified in one apparatus to obtain rice flour. No specific example is disclosed in which raw rice having a moisture value of about 13% to 15% is made 30% to 35%. According to the knowledge of the present inventors, if it is normal temperature water (20 ° C.), it takes 3 hours or more and 40 ° C. hot water takes about 30 minutes. Become advanced.

  Even if the method for producing alpha-rice rice flour of Patent Document 4 is effective for brown rice, which is a raw material rice, that is rapidly heated under normal pressure to be expanded and pulverized, when polished rice is used as a raw material, the surface rice starch Is pasted, and there is a phenomenon in which rice adheres to each other and the rice adheres to the heating kettle, and cannot be applied to polished rice. That is, brown rice has hard surface layer portions such as the epidermis, seed coat and pericarp, and the rice starch is wrapped by this surface layer portion, so there is no such adhesion.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is that the processing configuration is simple and the management of the processing process is easy, but the alpha range can be freely adjusted regardless of the type of raw rice, and the range of use will be expanded in the future. An object of the present invention is to provide a rice flour production method and apparatus capable of obtaining rice flour that can be expected to expand at low cost.

The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above object, and is characterized by having the following configuration.
That is, according to the present invention, a washing step for washing rice, a water absorption step for immersing the washed rice in normal temperature water for 20 to 120 minutes and then draining, and the rice after the water absorption with saturated steam Steaming for a preset time to alphalize at least a portion of the rice starch, drying step by spraying the steamed rice with normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C to 350 ° C, and crushing the dried rice There is provided a method for producing rice flour characterized by comprising a pulverizing step.

  In addition, according to the present invention, between the steaming step and the drying step, the steamed rice is rapidly vacuum-cooled to room temperature, and the steamed rice at room temperature is in a sterile state for 24 hours to 48 hours. There is provided a ripening step of aging rice starch that has been allowed to stand for a period of time, and a method for producing rice flour having added thereto.

  Further, according to the present invention, the cleaning step is performed by spraying air and mist on the rice flowing in a predetermined amount on the net and sterilizing by spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C to 350 ° C. A method for producing rice flour is provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, the cleaning step is performed by blowing air and sucking and coarsely cleaning the rice flowing through the net by a predetermined amount, and spraying and sucking fog after the rough cleaning. The main washing is performed by spraying air on the washed rice and sucking it for finishing washing. Further, the finished washing rice is sprayed with normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C to 350 ° C to sterilize the rice flour. A manufacturing method is provided.

  Moreover, according to this invention, the manufacturing method of the rice flour which added the flattening process which crushes steamed rice and makes it plate shape between the said steaming process and the said drying process is provided.

  Moreover, according to this invention, the manufacturing method of the rice flour which added the flattening process which crushed aged rice into a plate shape between the said ripening process and the said drying process is provided.

In addition, according to the present invention, a cleaning and sterilization unit for cleaning by spraying air and mist on the rice received on the net by a predetermined amount from the rice storage tank and sterilizing by spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C to 350 ° C, The water-absorbing part that drains water after exposing the washed and sterilized rice to hot water of 30 ° C. to 48 ° C. for 20 seconds to 10 minutes, and a plurality of holes in the bottom plate and side plate of the tank that stores a certain amount of rice after draining the water. and 0.25kg ^/ cm 2 ~1.5kg ^/ cm steamed ² of the saturated steam blown preset time, and the internal comprising a metering feeder for a predetermined amount of discharging the rice steamed machine 100 to the steamed rice There is provided a rice flour production apparatus comprising: a drying section that sprays and dries atmospheric pressure superheated steam at ℃ to 350 ° C; and a pulverization section that pulverizes the dried rice into powder. .

  Further, according to the present invention, between the steamer and the drying unit, the steamed rice is received and preliminarily loosened and a predetermined amount is weighed, and the weighed steamed rice is put in a container and closed. A vacuum cooler that takes out steamed rice from the vessel after maintaining the vacuum state at 690 mmHg or more for 10 to 30 seconds and then ripening the steamed rice after aging the pregelatinized rice starch. An apparatus for producing rice flour to which a ripening loosening portion that is made into a single grain is added is provided.

  Moreover, according to this invention, the manufacture of the rice flour which added the flat plate processing machine made into a plate shape by crushing steamed rice between an endless belt and a roll between the said steamer and the said drying part. An apparatus is provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, between the aging loosening portion and the drying portion, the rice flour added with a flat plate processing machine that crushes the aging rice by passing the aging rice between an endless belt and a roll. A manufacturing apparatus is provided.

  According to the method for producing rice flour of the present invention, the washed rice is soaked in water at room temperature for 20 to 120 minutes to absorb water, drained, and the degree of alpha starchation set by saturated steam becomes rice starch. Steamed to 100 ° C to 350 ° C under normal pressure superheated steam, dried and further pulverized to obtain rice flour. Therefore, since steamed rice that has already been steamed is simply dried to form powder with atmospheric superheated steam, the processing configuration is simple and the processing process is easy to manage. You can get the right rice flour. In addition, by adjusting the steaming time of saturated steam, the alpha degree of rice starch can be easily changed, and atmospheric superheated steam is almost oxygen-free, so it can be used for vitamins and enzymes. There is almost no influence by oxygen, and the bactericidal effect is high, and it can be expected that such rice flour will be used in the future.

  In addition, according to the method for producing rice flour of the present invention, steamed rice with saturated steam is rapidly cooled to room temperature before drying, and the room temperature steamed rice is allowed to stand for 24 to 48 hours in an aseptic condition. After the matured rice starch is ripened, the steamed rice is dried by spraying normal pressure superheated steam and further pulverized to obtain rice flour. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the pregelatinized state of the rice starch can be fixed uniformly, and the use after making the rice flour can be supported in terms of quality.

  Further, according to the method for producing rice flour of the present invention, the washing process is carried out by spraying air and mist on the rice that is circulated in a predetermined amount on the net, and further sprayed with atmospheric superheated steam to prevent the product from getting wet. The temperature rises and sterilizes. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the rice can be washed and sterilized smoothly with little use of water, so there is almost no waste water from washing the rice, and even when the rice is immersed in water at 25 ° C or higher, there is no growth of bacteria and water absorption. The time can be shortened, and the configuration including wastewater treatment can be simplified, downsized, and reduced in space.

  Further, according to the method for producing rice flour of the present invention, after air is blown and sucked and coarsely washed, the rice is sprayed with mist and then washed again by blowing air onto the rice and then washed with rice. Sterilize by spraying normal pressure superheated steam. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the rice is completely cleaned and sterilized.

  Moreover, according to the method for producing rice flour of the present invention, steamed rice with saturated steam is made into a crushed plate before drying, then sprayed with atmospheric superheated steam, dried, and further pulverized to obtain rice flour. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the drying time can be shortened by the amount of granular steamed rice made into a plate shape.

  In addition, according to the method for producing rice flour of the present invention, ripened rice is crushed before drying, then dried by spraying atmospheric superheated steam, and further pulverized to obtain rice flour. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the drying time can be shortened by the amount of granular aged rice made into a plate shape.

  Moreover, according to the rice flour production apparatus of the present invention, the rice flour production method of the present invention can be more efficiently carried out, and an efficiently pregelatinized rice flour can be obtained.

  According to the rice flour production apparatus of the present invention, the steamed rice from the steamer is preliminarily loosened and weighed with a weighing machine, and then put into a vacuum cooler to bring it to room temperature. The starch is aged, and the aged rice is subjected to regular unraveling to make a single grain, which is then sent to the drying section. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, it is possible to make it possible to homogenize the pregelatinized state of rice starch and support the use of rice flour in terms of quality.

  Further, according to the rice flour producing apparatus of the present invention, the steamed rice from the steamer is passed between an endless belt and a roll of a flat plate processing machine to form a crushed plate, and then a normal pressure vortex in the drying section. Spray with hot steam to dry. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the drying time of the steamed rice can be shortened as a device.

  Further, according to the rice flour production apparatus of the present invention, the aged rice from the aging unraveling part is passed between an endless belt and a roll of a flat plate processing machine to form a crushed plate and then normal pressure in the drying part. Spray with superheated steam to dry. Therefore, in addition to the above effects, the drying time of the ripened rice can be shortened as a device.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a flow sheet diagram showing the method for producing rice flour of the present invention. In the drawings, rice flour production method 1A includes a washing step 1B for washing rice, a water absorption step 1C for immersing the washed rice in normal temperature water for 20 to 120 minutes and then draining, and the rice after the water absorption. Steamed with saturated steam for a preset period of time to steamize at least a portion of the rice starch, drying process 1E for spraying the steamed rice with normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C to 350 ° C and drying, A pulverizing step 1F for pulverizing the dried rice, and between the steaming step 1D and the drying step 1E, the steamed rice is rapidly cooled to room temperature. A cooling step 1G to be performed and a maturing step 1H in which the steamed rice at room temperature is allowed to stand for 24 to 48 hours in an aseptic state to age the rice starch that has been pregelatinized may be added.

  The washing step 1B may be performed by simply supplying rice and water to a conventionally known rice washer, or by washing with air and mist sprayed on a predetermined amount of rice on the net 3 described later. Further, it may be sterilized by spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C. In this washing method, waste water for washing the rice is hardly generated, and even if the rice is immersed in water at 25 ° C. or higher, there is no growth of bacteria, the water absorption time can be shortened, and hygiene management is facilitated. In addition, the cleaning process 1B blows air to the rice flowing through the net 3 by a predetermined amount and sucks and roughly cleans the rice. The rice after the main cleaning may be blown with air and sucked for finishing cleaning, and then the rice after the final cleaning may be sterilized by spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C. This cleaning method not only blows air and mist, but also sucks, so that the rice can be more reliably and sufficiently cleaned.

  In the water absorption step 1C, the rice is immersed in water at room temperature for 20 minutes to 120 minutes to absorb water and then drained. When the water temperature in summer is high, the lower limit value may be immersed for 20 minutes, and when the water temperature in winter is low, the upper limit value is immersed for 120 minutes. If it is 20 degreeC water temperature, it can be made to absorb water enough if it is immersed for 30 minutes. In addition, as will be described later, when the product temperature rises by spraying normal pressure superheated steam on the rice in the washing step 1B, water is sufficiently absorbed if exposed to hot water of 30 ° C. to 48 ° C. for 20 seconds to 10 minutes. Then drain it.

  The steaming step 1D can freely adjust the degree of alpha of rice starch from a value close to 0% to a value close to 100% by adjusting the steaming time of the rice within a range of, for example, 1 minute to 15 minutes. . Therefore, the steaming time is adjusted so as to achieve a degree of alpha conversion that matches the intended purpose of the rice flour.

  In the drying step 1E, the moisture of the rice can be freely set by adjusting the drying time of the rice and the temperature of the atmospheric superheated steam. Therefore, the drying time and the temperature of the atmospheric superheated steam are adjusted so that the moisture after drying suitable for the purpose of use of the rice flour, for example, in the range of 3 wt% to 10 wt%. Here, drying is performed using normal-pressure superheated steam, so it can be dried quickly because of its high heat content, and since it is oxygen-free, there is almost no influence of oxygen on vitamins and enzymes contained in rice. If the temperature of the normal pressure superheated steam is 120 ° C. or higher, the sterilization effect is high and the sterilized state is obtained.

  The said pulverization process 1F should just pulverize dried rice and can be made into a powder, and there is no limitation in the system and a powder diameter. The pulverization method and powder size are set according to the intended use of rice flour.

  The cooling step 1G added between the steaming step 1D and the drying step 1E is to rapidly cool the steamed rice to room temperature, and the ripening step 1H ripens the pregelatinized rice starch. Is. These two steps homogenize the pregelatinized rice starch and contribute to improving the quality of the rice flour. In addition, the raw material rice of rice flour is not particularly limited, such as glutinous rice and glutinous rice, new rice and old rice, brown rice and polished rice, japonica varieties and indica varieties.

Next, a rice flour production apparatus that specifically implements the above-described method for producing rice flour will be described.
2 is a flow sheet diagram of a production apparatus embodying the rice flour production method of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flow sheet diagram of a cleaning and sterilizing section in the rice flour production apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cleaning process in the rice flour production apparatus of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the assembly state of a part, FIG. 5 is the perspective view which notched some steamers in the rice flour manufacturing apparatus of this invention. In the drawing, a rice flour production apparatus 1 is a normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C. which is washed by blowing air and mist onto rice received on a net 3 (shown in FIG. 3) by a predetermined amount from a rice storage tank 2. The sterilization part 4 for sterilizing by spraying, the water absorbing part 5 for draining the washed and sterilized rice in hot water of 30 ° C. to 48 ° C. for 20 seconds to 10 minutes, and a fixed amount of rice after draining the water constant emissions many holes 6c by blowing saturated steam of 0.25kg ^/ cm ² ~1.5kg ^/ cm 2 from (shown in FIG. 5) steamed and rice inside the bottom plate 6a and the side plate 6b of the tank 6 for storing A steaming machine 8 having a fixed quantity feeder 7, a weighing machine 9 for receiving the steamed rice and preliminarily loosening it, and weighing a predetermined amount thereof; 690mmH The above vacuum state is maintained for 10 seconds to 30 seconds, brought to room temperature, and then the vacuum cooler 11 for taking out the steamed rice from the container 10 and maturing the steamed rice after aging the alpha starch. Aged unraveling portion 12 that is made into a single grain state, drying portion 13 that is dried by spraying normal-temperature superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C. to the steamed rice after aging, and pulverizing the dried rice into powder The powdering part 14 to be comprised.

  The rice storage tank 2 is provided with a rotary valve 15 at a lower portion thereof, and a conveying device 16 is provided therebelow. By opening the valve 17, a receiving tank for a rice fixed-quantity feeder 30 to be described later in the cleaning and sterilization unit 4 is provided. Supply rice to 31.

  The cleaning and sterilizing unit 4 is divided into a cleaning unit 4A and a sterilizing unit 4B. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cleaning unit 4A has a lid 21 attached to a wide toyo 20 and a hole 22a in a bottom plate 22 of the toyo 20. , The net 3 is stretched in the hole 22a, a cone-shaped hood 23 is attached to the outside of the bottom plate 22 with the net 3 as a boundary, and the air blowing pipe 25, the mist blowing pipe 26 and the air blowing are attached to the side plate 24 of the toyo 20 Notches 24a, 24b and 24c for penetrating the tube 27 are provided. A pressurizing chamber 28 is formed in a space surrounded by the toyo 20 and the lid 21, and a decompression chamber 29 is formed in a space surrounded by the net 3 stretched on the toyo 20 and the cone-shaped hood 23. The net 3 is made of a stainless steel net, and the mesh may be of a size that does not allow rice grains to pass therethrough, and therefore may be a perforated plate.

  A rice fixed amount supply machine 30 for quantitatively supplying rice to the washing unit 4A is provided, and this rice fixed amount supply machine 30 has a vibrator 33 attached to a passage 32 having a predetermined inclination at a lower portion of the receiving tank 31. The rice R that has entered the passage 32 from the lower part of the receiving tank 31 is vibrated in the passage 32 by the vibrator 33 to supply a predetermined amount of rice to the cleaning unit 4A. The supply amount of rice is adjusted by changing the vibration intensity of the vibrator 33.

  The air blowing pipes 25 and 27 are connected to the blower 34, and the mist blowing pipe 26 is connected to the mist generating pump 35. These air blowing pipes 25 and 27 have innumerable small holes, air is blown out from the innumerable small holes, and a spray nozzle 36 is attached to the mist blowing pipe 26 so that the mist is blown out. . A vacuum pump 37 is connected to the decompression chamber 29, and a rice deposit removal tank 38 is installed between the decompression chamber 29 and the vacuum pump 37. A rotary valve 39 is attached to the lower end of the rice deposit removal tank 38, and a tray 41 for receiving the rice deposit 40 is placed below the rotary valve 39. Therefore, the removed rice deposit 40 is collected in the tray 41 without passing through the vacuum pump 37 and being discharged to the outside.

  The sterilizing unit 4B includes a superheated steam chamber 42 and a steam chamber conveyor 43 that travels in the chamber. The superheated steam chamber 42 is connected to a boiler 44 via a normal pressure superheated steam generator 45. This normal pressure superheated steam generator 45 generates normal pressure superheated steam, and this normal pressure superheated steam further heats saturated steam from a normal boiler, for example, the boiler 44, to 100 ° C. It is inactive because it contains almost no oxygen, and it is said that the unit volume of atmospheric superheated steam is about four times that of hot air at the same temperature. It can be easily done at 500 ° C. or higher. Accordingly, the normal pressure superheated steam generator 45 is not particularly limited as long as it can generate normal pressure superheated steam, but for example, an electromagnetic induction type apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2004-251605 is adopted.

  The cleaning and sterilizing unit 4 having the above-described configuration first performs rough cleaning by blowing and sucking air from the air blowing pipe 25 to the rice quantitatively supplied from the rice fixed quantity feeder 30, and then Fog is blown from the spray nozzle 36 of the outlet pipe 26 and suctioned for cleaning, and further, air is blown from the air outlet pipe 27 and sucked for finishing cleaning. The rice after washing is supplied onto the steam chamber conveyor 43 in the superheated steam chamber 42 of the sterilization unit 4B, and the rice is sterilized by normal pressure superheated steam from the normal pressure superheated steam generator 45 during running. The temperature also rises and is sent to the water absorption part 5. The cleaning and sterilizing unit 4 omits the sterilizing unit 4B, and connects the atmospheric pressure superheated steam generator 45 to the air blowing pipe 25, the mist blowing pipe 26 and the air blowing pipe 27 of the washing unit 4A so The rice can be washed and sterilized only by spraying superheated steam. Therefore, in the case of other cereals such as rice types and wheat and buckwheat, this method may be better, so this method is not excluded.

  The water-absorbing part 5 exposes the washed and sterilized rice to hot water 50 at 30 ° C. to 48 ° C. to absorb the water, and a net conveyor 52 running in the hot water 50 at 30 ° C. to 48 ° C. stretched on the water tank 51. Constitute. That is, the rice after washing and sterilization from the washing and sterilizing unit 4 is received by the net conveyor 52, and the net conveyor 52 is immersed in the hot water 50 for 20 seconds to 10 minutes, during which time the rice absorbs water, While the net conveyor 52 comes out of the hot water 50 and puts rice into the steamer 8, it passes through the suction part 52a to drain water. The rice has been washed and sterilized by the above-mentioned method and the product temperature has risen, so the water is absorbed in a short period of time without lowering the temperature of the hot water 50 of 30 ° C. to 48 ° C., and the rice is washed and sterilized. Therefore, there is no propagation of bacteria in the water tank 51, and the water 50 that has been absorbed and reduced can be supplied into the water tank 51. Therefore, this system does not require two tanks having a capacity capable of retaining for 120 minutes. In addition, although this water absorption part 5 dipped the rice in the hot water 50 of 30 degreeC-48 degreeC and made it water-absorb, even if it showers the hot water 50 of 30 degreeC-48 degreeC on the rice and water-absorbed, it does not interfere.

The steamer 8 is provided with a metering feeder 7 at the bottom of the tank 6 having a V-shaped lower part. The metering feeder 7 is directly connected to the motor 7 a, and a discharge pipe 60 of the metering feeder 7 is provided on the side of the tank 6. Is provided. The discharge pipe 60 is composed of a straight pipe 61 provided horizontally and a curved pipe 62 attached to the tip thereof. The tank 6 covers the outside of the V-shaped bottom plate 6 a and side plate 6 b with a plate to form a steam chamber 63, and further, a steam outlet pipe 64 above the metering feeder 7 in the tank 6. Is provided. The steam chamber 63 and the steam outlet pipe 64 are directly connected to the boiler 43. The boiler 43 is selected to be able to blow 0.25 kg / cm ^{2 to} 1.5 kg / cm ² of saturated steam into the tank 6 and the atmospheric superheated steam generator 44.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the weighing machine 9 includes a hopper 65 that temporarily receives steamed rice from the discharge pipe 60 of the steamer 8, a preliminary loosening machine 66 attached under the hopper 65, and the preliminary loosening machine 66. It comprises a measuring unit 67 for measuring the steamed rice after passing. The weighing machine 9 receives the steamed rice, which is sent almost quantitatively from the discharge pipe 60 of the steamer 8 by the quantitative feeder 7, by the hopper 65, and includes two paddles 66a and a loosening drum 66b of the preliminary loosening machine 66. When a predetermined amount is weighed by the weighing unit 67, the supply of the steamed rice from the discharge pipe 60 is temporarily stopped, and the amount of the steamed rice is once put in the bag 68.

The vacuum cooler 11 has at least four containers 10 as a plurality of containers 10. These containers 10 are provided with a lid that can be automatically opened and closed and sealed so that the steps 70, 71, 73, and 75 shown below are sequentially circulated. The first step 70 is a step of opening the lid of the container 10 and putting the bag 68 containing the steamed rice into the container 10 in an opened state. The second step 71 is a step in which the lid of the container 10 is closed and sealed, and connected to the vacuum generator 72 so that a vacuum state of 690 mmHg or more is maintained for 10 seconds to 30 seconds. The third step 73 is a step of connecting the sterilized air generator 74 to bring the inside of the container 10 to atmospheric pressure and sealing the bag 68 by a sealing machine (not shown) provided in the container 10. The fourth step 75 is a step of opening the container 10, taking out the bag 68 and placing it on the transport conveyor 76.
Note that the steamed rice from the weighing unit 67 of the weighing machine 9 may be put in the container 10 as it is without being put in the bag 68. In this case, the maturation yard 18 described later needs to be a measure that is free from external contamination and does not propagate by bacteria remaining in the steamed rice, for example, a sterile room or a cold room. And the obtained matured rice is sent to the drying part 13 directly, or is sent to the drying part 13 via the below-mentioned unwinding machine 19.

  In order to reduce the cooling load of the vacuum cooler 11, that is, to reduce the capacity of the vacuum generator 72, the steamed rice discharged from the discharge pipe 60 is measured before being put into the bag 68. 77 is opened and aseptic air is preferably sprayed onto the steamed rice from the aforementioned aseptic air generator 74. By doing in this way, the steamed rice immediately after discharging | emitting from the discharge pipe 60 is about 98 degreeC, However, It can reduce to 80 to 70 degreeC immediately.

  The maturing loosening unit 12 includes a maturing yard 18 for maturing rice starch that has been allowed to stand for 24 to 48 hours at room temperature for 24 hours to 48 hours in steamed rice in a bag 68 that is transported by a transport conveyor 76, and this This unraveling machine 19 is used to unravel the bagged ripened rice as it is to make it into a single grain. The maturing yard 18 may be at room temperature because the steamed rice is contained in the bag 68, and can serve as a warehouse where the temperature does not rise significantly in summer or the like. In this ripening yard 18, the ripened rice in the bag 68 is stabilized and separated in a pregelatinized state, that is, in a state where starch molecules in a normal cooked state bind to water molecules and are linked to each other through them. The phenomenon does not occur. The ripened rice in the bag 68 is preliminarily loosened, but the rice particles are attached to form a lump.

  Therefore, the ripened rice in the bag 68 is further loosened by the present loosening machine 19 and is made into a single grain state. That is, the present unraveling machine 19 includes an upper conveyor 78 and a lower conveyor 79, and the rollers 78a and 79a of both the conveyors 78 and 79 are arranged in a staggered manner. By passing the bag 68 between the rollers 78a and 79a of the conveyors 78 and 79, the agglomerated ripened rice has already been preliminarily loosened, so that the adhesion of the rice particles is weak, and this loosening is further loosened. It is made into a single grain and becomes almost the same as ordinary raw rice, and is sent to the bag opening machine 80.

  The bag opening machine 80 is used to take out the matured rice that has been made into a single grain by opening the bag 68, and the matured rice that has been taken out is put into the receiving tank 81 of the drying unit 13.

  The drying unit 13 is a rotary dryer that includes a cylindrical body 82 that is slightly inclined and rotates gently, and a scraper blade 83 that is provided on the inner wall of the cylindrical body 82. It is connected to the steam generator 45. Aged rice is supplied from the receiving tank 81 to the upper end side of the cylindrical body 82, and as the cylindrical body 82 rotates slowly, it is scraped up and dropped by the raising blade 83, and the lower end side of the cylindrical body 82 In the process of moving to, the atmospheric pressure superheated steam flowing in the cylindrical body 82 is dried to a preset moisture value in view of the pulverization conditions and the purpose of use of rice flour, and put into the pulverizing section 14. The The drying unit 13 is not particularly limited, and may be a band dryer including a superheated steam chamber and a steam chamber conveyor that travels inside the superheated steam chamber. Connected and matured rice is dried to a preset moisture value in the process of being placed on the steam chamber conveyor and traveling in the superheated steam chamber.

  In consideration of the purpose of use of the rice flour, the pulverizing unit 14 pulverizes dried rice to a predetermined particle size, and a conventionally known pulverizer such as a roll pulverizer or an impact pulverizer is employed. Is done. The rice flour obtained by pulverization is immediately packed in a bag 84 to become a rice flour product 85, and this rice flour product 85 is stacked in a product yard 86.

Next, the manufacturing method 1A is demonstrated with the rice flour manufacturing apparatus 1 which becomes the said structure.
Opening of the rotary valve 15 at the lower part of the storage tank 2 in which raw rice is stored opens the conveying device 16, opens the valve 17, and accepts the rice fixed quantity feeder 30 in the cleaning unit 4 </ b> A of the cleaning sterilization unit 4. Rice is supplied to the tank 31.

  The rice R supplied to the receiving tank 31 is oscillated by the vibrator 33 to vibrate the passage 32 and is quantitatively supplied from the passage 32 to the pressurizing chamber 28 of the cleaning unit 4A. Air from the blower 34 is averagely blown to the rice R that has entered the pressurizing chamber 28 by the air blowing pipe 25, and the rice deposit 40 having relatively weak adhesion is roughly removed from the rice deposit 40 of the rice R. Wash roughly. Next, the mist from the mist generator 35 and the spray nozzle 36 of the mist blowing pipe 26 is blown onto the rice and washed by suction, and air from the blower 34 is blown on the rice R by the air blowing pipe 27 on the average. Then, the rice deposit 40 is further removed to perform final cleaning, and the cleaning is terminated. At the same time, since the decompression chamber 29 is decompressed by the vacuum pump 37, the rice deposit 40 and the rice deposit odor pass through the net 3 along with the air and mist and pass through the decompression chamber 29 to the rice deposit removal tank. 38, the rice deposit 40 is separated and dropped onto the tray 41 by the rotary valve 39 and collected.

  And the rice R which complete | finished washing | cleaning is supplied on the steam chamber conveyor 43 in the superheated steam chamber 42 of the said sterilization part 4B. On the other hand, saturated steam from the boiler 44 is passed through a normal pressure superheated steam generator 45 to form normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C., and this normal pressure superheated steam is sent into the superheated steam chamber 42, and a steam chamber conveyor 43, the running rice R is sterilized and its product temperature is raised, and the cleaning process 1B with sterilization is completed. Note that this atmospheric superheated steam is different from saturated water vapor in that it has a high amount of heat, so that the water in the atmospheric superheated steam does not condense and adhere to the rice R, and the rice R is sterilized while maintaining a smooth state. While passing through the superheated steam chamber 42. And the rice R which finished | finished washing | cleaning sterilization is sent on the net conveyor 52 in the water tank 51 of the said water absorption part 5. FIG.

  The net conveyor 52 travels slowly in a water tank 51 containing hot water 50 at 30 ° C. to 48 ° C. for about 20 seconds to 10 minutes, and the rice R absorbs water within this dipping time. While taking out the rice R into the steamer 8 from 50, the suction step 52a is appropriately connected to a suction pipe 52a for suction and draining, thereby completing the water absorption step 1C. The rice R is washed and sterilized in the washing and sterilizing section 4 and the product temperature is also raised. Therefore, the rice R absorbs water sufficiently by dipping in a short time without lowering the temperature of the hot water 50, and the bacteria R in the water tank 51 is also absorbed. There is no breeding, and it is only necessary to supply the water 50 that has been absorbed and reduced in the water tank 51.

Next, when a certain amount of rice R is put into the tank 6 of the steamer 8 from the net conveyor 52, the steam chamber 63 and the steam outlet pipe 64 outside the tank 6 are supplied from the boiler 43 to 0.25 kg / cm ² . Saturated water vapor of 1.5 kg / cm ² is fed in, steam is blown out from the numerous holes 6c of the bottom plate 6a and side plate 6b of the tank 6 and the steam blowing pipe 34, and the rice is steamed. During this time, when the quantitative feeder 7 is operated, the steaming condition set in advance from the discharge pipe 60, that is, the rice that has not been steamed to the pre-set alpha degree is discharged, so that the rice in the tank 6 is stirred. The rice feeder R is prevented from being discharged from the discharge pipe 60 until the metering feeder 7 is intermittently operated or rotated forward and backward until the steamed rice has a preset steaming condition.

  When the rice R is steamed to a preset steaming condition in the steamer 8, the operation of the constant quantitative feeder 7 is started. The time until the rice R is introduced into the tank 6 of the steamer 8 and discharged from the discharge pipe 60, that is, a predetermined time during which the rice R is steamed to a preset alpha degree is set. This residence time varies greatly depending on factors such as the soaking time of rice R, in other words, how much water is absorbed in rice R, the vapor pressure, and the degree of alpha conversion of rice starch. . In any case, the steaming time and the steam pressure are adjusted so that the degree of pregelatinization according to the intended purpose of the rice flour is obtained.

  Steamed rice is put into the hopper 65 of the weighing machine 9 from the discharge pipe 60 of the steamer 8 which has entered the steady operation, but since the tip of the discharge pipe 60 is a curved pipe 62, the steamed rice is steamed into the discharge pipe 60. The rice is filled, and the steamed rice is quantitatively introduced into the hopper 65 with considerably high accuracy, and the steaming process 1D is completed. Then, the steamed rice is preliminarily loosened by the preliminary loosening machine 66 under the hopper 65. This preliminary loosening is carried out when steamed rice passes between the two rotating paddles 66a and further passes through the rotating drum 66b, and the steamed rice is once broken. The steamed rice once broken by the preliminary loosening is measured by the measuring unit 67. That is, when the measuring unit 67 measures the steamed rice to a predetermined amount, the supply of the steamed rice from the discharge pipe 60 is temporarily stopped, and the lower part of the measuring unit 67 is opened to measure the amount of steamed rice in the bag 68. Put in.

  The bag 68 containing the steamed rice is set in the container 10 at the position of the first step 70 of the vacuum cooler 11 with its mouth open, while the empty bag 68 is placed below the measuring unit 67. Is set. Furthermore, if the valve 77 is opened and the sterilized air is blown from the sterilized air generator 74 to the steamed rice discharged from the discharge pipe 60, the temperature of the steamed rice at about 98 ° C immediately after the discharge is immediately increased to 80 ° C to 70 ° C. Since it can reduce, the cooling load of the vacuum cooler 11 can be reduced significantly.

  Next, the container 10 at the position of the first step 70 of the vacuum cooler 11 closes the lid and proceeds to the second step 71, where it is connected to the vacuum generator 72 to reduce the pressure, and the temperature of the steamed rice When the temperature is lowered rapidly and a vacuum state of 690 mmHg or more can be maintained for 10 seconds to 30 seconds, the temperature of the steamed rice becomes about 20 ° C. at room temperature.

  When the container 10 proceeds to the third step 73, the sterilized air generator 74 sends sterilized air into the container 10 to bring it to atmospheric pressure, and then the bag 68 is sealed by a sealing machine (not shown) provided in the container 10. And seal. Further, the container 10 proceeds to the fourth step 75, the lid of the container 10 is opened, the bag 68 is taken out and placed on the transport conveyor 76, and the bag 68 is transported to the aging yard 18 of the aging loosening unit 12, thereby cooling step 1G. Ends.

  In this ripening yard 18, the bag 68 is left at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours, during which steamed rice in the bag 68 ripens, stabilizes the alpha state of the rice starch, and is temporarily broken by preliminary loosening. Rice grains adhere again to form a lump. Therefore, by passing the bag 68 between the rollers 78a and 79a of the upper conveyor 78 and the lower conveyor 79 of the present loosening machine 19, the agglomerated ripened rice is loosened and almost completely made into a single grain. Thus, the ripening process 1H is completed.

  The ripened ripened rice packed in the bag 68 is sent to the opening machine 80, the bag 68 is opened, and the bag 68 is put into the receiving tank 81 of the drying unit 13. Then, the ripened rice singulated from the receiving tank 81 is supplied into the cylinder 82 on the upper end side, and the aged rice is scraped up by the scraper 83 and dropped, and the lower end side of the cylinder 82 is repeated. In the meantime, the aged rice is dried to a preset moisture value by the atmospheric superheated steam flowing in the cylindrical body 82 and put into the pulverizing section 14, and the drying step 1E is completed. Since mature rice is dried using atmospheric superheated steam with a high heat content (about 4 times that of hot air at the same temperature), it is dry quickly and oxygen-free. It has little effect on enzymes and has a high bactericidal effect.

  The dried rice is sent to the pulverizing section 14 and pulverized to a preset particle size, and the obtained rice flour is immediately packed in the bag 84 to become a rice flour product 85. The rice flour product 85 is stacked in the product yard 86, and the powdering process 1F is completed.

  FIG. 7 is a flow sheet diagram in which a flattening step is added immediately before the drying step in the method for producing rice flour shown in FIG. In the drawing, the flattening step 1J in the rice flour production method 1Aa may be a case where the steamed rice from the steaming step 1D is crushed into a plate shape, or a case where the aged rice from the aging step 1H is crushed into a plate shape. . In any case, the granular rice is made thin by making it into a plate shape, and is a step for improving the drying efficiency in the next drying step 1E.

  Next, a rice flour producing apparatus that specifically implements the rice flour producing method 1Aa to which the above-described flattening step is added will be described. FIG. 8 is a flow sheet diagram of a production apparatus that embodies a method for producing rice flour when the steamed rice from the steaming step 1D is crushed into a plate shape, and FIG. 9 is a plate shape by crushing the ripened rice from the aging step 1H. It is a flow sheet figure of the manufacturing apparatus which materializes the manufacturing method of the rice flour in the case of making.

  In FIG. 8, the steamed rice from the discharge pipe 60 of the steamer 8 is received by the hopper 65a and then supplied to the flat plate processing machine 90. The flat plate processing machine 90 includes a pressing roll 94 and a pressure receiving roll 95 that are installed with a stainless endless belt 93 that is driven by a drive unit 92 of a steam chamber conveyor 91 interposed therebetween. The steamed rice supplied onto the endless belt 93 of the flat plate processing machine 90 is made into a plate shape by passing between the pressing roll 94 and the pressure receiving roll 95, and the flattening step 1J is completed. The steamed rice in the form of a plate on the endless belt 93 is sent to the drying unit 13a as it is. The drying unit 13 a is a band dryer including a superheated steam chamber 96 and the above-described steam chamber conveyor 91 that travels in the superheated steam chamber 96. The superheated steam chamber 96 is connected to the atmospheric pressure superheated steam generator 45. . The plate-shaped steamed rice is dried to a preset moisture value by normal pressure superheated steam flowing in the superheated steam chamber 96 in the process of running in the superheated steam chamber 96 while being placed on the endless belt 93. Step 1E is finished and charged into the pulverizing section 14.

  In FIG. 9, the aged rice opened by the bag opening machine 80 is once put into the receiving tank 81 and then supplied onto the endless belt 93 of the flat plate processing machine 90. The aged rice on the endless belt 93 is formed into a plate shape by passing between the pressing roll 94 and the pressure receiving roll 95 as in the case of the above steamed rice, and further, the aged plate shape on the endless belt 93 is formed. The rice is sent to the drying unit 13a as it is, and is dried to a preset moisture value by the atmospheric superheated steam flowing in the superheated steam chamber 96, and the flattening step 1J and the drying step 1E are finished, and the powdering unit 14.

  Although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above, the specific configuration is not limited to this. For example, only rice has been described, but it can also be applied to grains such as wheat and buckwheat. Needless to say, it should be understood that modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  The method and apparatus for producing rice flour of the present invention is intended to reduce the size, simplification, and space of the equipment configuration including the wastewater treatment facility, and, regardless of the type of raw rice, When it is possible to freely change the degree of alpha formation and to always obtain rice flour having the optimum degree of alpha formation easily and easily, the availability becomes extremely high.

  It is a flow sheet figure which shows the manufacturing method of the rice flour of this invention.   It is a flow sheet figure of the manufacturing apparatus which actualized the manufacturing method of the rice flour of this invention.   It is a flow sheet figure of the washing | cleaning sterilization part in the manufacturing apparatus of the rice flour of this invention.   It is a perspective view which shows the assembly state of the washing | cleaning part in the manufacturing apparatus of the rice flour of this invention.   It is the perspective view which notched some steamers in the rice flour manufacturing apparatus of this invention.   It is the side view which carried out the cross section of a part of measurement part in the manufacturing apparatus of the rice flour of this invention.   It is the flow sheet figure which added the flattening process just before the drying process in the manufacturing method of the rice flour shown in FIG.   It is a flow sheet figure of the manufacturing apparatus at the time of adding the flattening process of steamed rice to the manufacturing method of the rice flour of this invention.   It is a flow sheet figure of a manufacturing device at the time of adding the flattening process of ripening rice to the manufacturing method of the rice flour of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice flour production apparatus 1A, 1Aa Rice flour production method 1B Washing process 1C Water absorption process 1D Steaming process 1E Drying process 1F Powdering process 1G Cooling process 1H Aging process 1J Flattening process 2 Rice storage tank 3 Net 4 Washing sterilization part 4A Washing Part 4B Sterilization part 5 Water absorption part 6 Tank 6a Bottom plate 6b Side plate 6c Hole 7 Metering feeder 7a Motor 8 Steamer 9 Weighing machine 10 Container 11 Vacuum cooling packaging machine 12 Aging loosening part 13, 13a Drying part 14, Powdering part 15, 39 Rotary Valve 16 Conveying device 17, 77 Valve 20 Toy 21 Lid 22 Bottom plate 22a Hole 23 Cone-shaped hood 24 Side plate 24a, 24b, 24c Notch 25, 27 Air blowing pipe 26 Mist blowing pipe 28 Pressurizing chamber 29 Depressurizing chamber 30 Fixed amount feeder 31, 81 Receiving tank 32 Passage 33 Vibrator 34 Blower 35 Fog generating pump 36 Spray nozzle 37 Vacuum pump 38 Rice deposit removal tank 40 Rice deposit 41 Tray 42 Superheated steam chamber 43 Steam chamber conveyor 44 Boiler 45 Atmospheric pressure superheated steam generator 50 Hot water 51 Water tank 52 Net conveyor 52a Suction part 60 Discharge pipe 61 Straight pipe 62 Curved pipe 63 Steam chamber 64 Steam blow pipe 65, 65a Hopper 66 Preliminary unraveling machine 66a Paddle 66b Unraveling drum 67 Weighing section 68, 84 Bag 70 First step 71 Second step 72 Vacuum generator 73 Third Step 74 Aseptic Air Generator 75 Fourth Step 76 Conveyor 78 Upper Conveyor 78a, 79a Roller 79 Lower Conveyor 80 Bag Opener 82 Cylindrical Body 83 Lifting Machine 85 Rice Flour Product 86 Product Yard 90 Flat Plate Machine 91 Air chamber conveyor 92 93 Endless belt 94 Pressing roll 95 Pressure receiving roll 96 Superheated steam chamber R Rice

Claims (10)

  A washing step for washing rice, a water absorption step for immersing the washed rice in normal temperature water for 20 to 120 minutes and then draining, and steaming the rice after the water absorption with saturated water vapor for at least a preset time, A steaming step for converting a portion of the rice starch into alpha, a drying step for spraying the steamed rice with normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C. and drying, and a pulverizing step for crushing the dried rice into powder A method for producing rice flour, comprising:   Between the steaming step and the drying step, the steamed rice is rapidly vacuum cooled to room temperature, and the steamed rice at room temperature is left in a sterile state for 24 to 48 hours to be alphatized rice starch The method for producing rice flour according to claim 1, further comprising: an aging step of aging the rice.   3. The rice flour according to claim 1, wherein the washing step is performed by spraying air and mist on the rice flowing in a predetermined amount on the net and sterilizing by spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C. 3. Manufacturing method.   The cleaning process is performed by blowing air and sucking and coarsely cleaning the rice that has been circulated on the net by a predetermined amount. 3. The production of rice flour according to claim 1 or 2, wherein air is blown into the latter rice and sucked to finish and washed, and then the rice after the finish washing is further sterilized by spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C to 350 ° C. Method.   The manufacturing method of the rice flour of Claim 1, 3 or 4 which added the flattening process which crushed steamed rice into a plate shape between the said steaming process and the said drying process.   The method for producing rice flour according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein a step of flattening the ripened rice into a plate shape is added between the ripening step and the drying step. A cleaning and sterilization unit for cleaning by spraying air and mist onto the rice received from the rice storage tank on the net by a predetermined amount and spraying normal pressure superheated steam at 100 ° C. to 350 ° C., and 30 sterilized rice after the cleaning and sterilization 0.25 kg / cm ² to 1 from a water absorption part that drains water after being exposed to hot water of ℃ to 48 ° C. for 20 seconds to 10 minutes, and a large number of holes in the bottom plate and side plate of the tank that stores a certain amount of rice after draining the water. Steaming with 5 kg / cm ² of saturated steam blown for a preset time and having a fixed amount feeder that discharges a certain amount of rice inside, and overheating the steamed rice at 100 ° C to 350 ° C at atmospheric pressure An apparatus for producing rice flour, comprising: a drying section that sprays water vapor to dry; and a pulverizing section that pulverizes the dried rice into powder.   Between the steamer and the drying unit, steamed rice is received and preliminarily loosened and a predetermined amount is weighed, and the metered steamed rice is put in a container and closed, and a vacuum state of 690 mmHg or more is set to 10 A vacuum cooler for taking steamed rice out of the container after holding at room temperature for 30 to 30 seconds, and aging the pregelatinized rice starch, then unraveling the steamed rice and making it into single grains An apparatus for producing rice flour according to claim 5, further comprising an aging loosening portion to be added.   The apparatus for producing rice flour according to claim 7, wherein a flat plate processing machine is formed between the steaming machine and the drying unit by crushing steamed rice between an endless belt and a roll to form a plate.   The apparatus for producing rice flour according to claim 8, wherein a flat plate processing machine is added between the aged loosening unit and the drying unit by crushing aged rice by passing it between an endless belt and a roll.

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